Runtime:
128 minutes
Directed
by: John Glen
Starring:
Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Topol, Julian Glover, Lynn-Holly Johnson
From:
United Artists
I
wasn't planning on seeing this again last night; that's just how it
worked out. Then again I don't mind watching this, as this is one of
the best ones that Roger Moore did. After I review this I'll list in
what order I have all the Moore Bond films. I already talked about
The Living Daylights a few years ago so the next time I see a Bond
film, it'll be Licence To Kill, definitely a late 80's action film,
but I say that in a good way. I'll talk about all that sometime
later, though.
This
movie, it's definitely less outrageous than the last few entries in
the franchise. While Moonraker made a boatload of money at the time,
it wasn't a critical favorite. This was more subdued and was rather
simple yet effective: Bond has to try and retrieve a British
communication device that was stolen from a sunken ship before the
evil Soviets or anyone else could acquire it and order the missiles
on the British sub to fire upon the British. Along the way 007 deals
with Melina Havelock, who is looking for revenge as her parents were
killed by a hitman; as the dad was looking for the sunken ship,
that's how Bond gets involved with her.
While
it isn't as extravagent as the last few movies, it still is rather
exciting and interesting to watch, with a fun story, some great
action scenes, and nice scenery... and I don't mean Carole Bouquet,
although I do think she is great to look at. You go from Spain (where
Bond briefly sees a woman at a pool who in real life is a
transsexual; the press made a big deal out of it but you only see her
in one short scene; also, there's a great chase involving some
Peugeot sedans chasing after 007 and Melina's Citroen 2CV; it's like
an original Beetle in that it's small and has a low-horsepower
engine; how that economical car gets away is awesome) to an Italian
village in the mountains then Greece. All are pretty to look at and
while this is a more serious entry (where you get to see 007 do some
harsh things) you still have one-liners from Bond, which is always
welcome.
Also,
I did enjoy the groovy funky disco-esque score from Bill Conti. It
was different from the norm but it worked for the movie and I thought
it was rad. And I did laugh at the relationship between Bond and a
female figure skater who is like 18 at the most and he actually
resists her advances, probably to avoid seeming like a dirty old
pervert!
Oh,
and lol to the opening before the credits where James Bond dispatches
of a guy whose face was never seen but obviously was supposed to be
Blofeld. What a great middle finger to Kevin McClory, a guy who gave
the Bond producers many problems for his involvement in Thunderball
and then various lawsuits and his claiming to the ownership of the
Blofeld character, which is why he hadn't been used since Diamonds
are Forever and obviously they did not need the character any longer.
Before I leave and come back Monday night, here's how I rate the Moore films.
2. For
Your Eyes Only
3. Octopussy
7. Moonraker
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